The Rolling Tape

With spooky season coming around, today we are discussing October's first big horror film The Exorcist: Believer directed by David Gordon Green starring Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, and Ellen Burstyn. We discuss how this continuation of the iconic horror franchise alters its legacy, for better or for worse. Follow our team online: Sara Ciplickas on Letterboxd , Instagram , and Twitter Paul Rai...

For today’s double feature topic, we’re discussing the idea of media representation in film, how mass media in the form of television or other sources has been depicted in film as a way to configure and shape reality for entertainment and profit. The first film that we selected in this pairing is Sidney Lumet’s 1976, Network, and you voted to pair Peter Weir’s The Truman Show from 1998 for two pre...

Set against a war between humans and robots, today we are reviewing The Creator directed by Gareth Edwards starring John David Washington, Allison Janney, and Gemma Chan. We’re diving deep into the world of artificial intelligence, but I promise we’re all human today on this podcast. Follow our team online: Danny Jarabek Website , Letterboxd , Instagram , Twitter , TikTok , and Linktree Paul Rai o...

With TIFF coming to a close, we recap the festival with our two press correspondents Matt Minton and Bryan Sudfield reviewing their experiences in Toronto with the films they saw and covered. We also begin to look ahead into awards season and cast our first early season predictions for Best Picture for the 96th Academy Awards. We will continue adding predictions for all 23 categories with each suc...

In 2021, a group on Reddit called Wall Street bets triggered a short squeeze on the stock of Gamestop, a company Wall Street believed was dying and bet against. We’re reviewing Dumb Money directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Paul Dano and Pete Davidson telling the story of this internet forum’s revolution against the hedge fund managers who lost billions in the process. Chapter Timestamps: 0:0...

Single day films utilize the technique of a closed period of time to tell their stories, often making time an additional character of the film creating a sense of urgency or embedding deadlines for the character’s lives and actions. We look at two films, La Haine (1995) and Do the Right Thing (1989) that utilize this technique to convey their impactful and interconnected themes and narratives. Cha...

Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice features the return of the director/star as the enigmatic Hercule Poirot, the long-running Agatha Christie detective. This iteration features Poirot, now retired and exiled, who agrees to a case after witnessing a murder. We review the film through the canals and secrets of Venice while unraveling the mysteries of the latest case. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:00...

Jen Markowitz is a Canadian film and television director and producer, whose feature documentary film debut Summer Qamp  premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023. The documentary follows a camp in rural Alberta where queer, non-binary, and trans teens get to just be kids in a supportive space, surrounded by counselors who can relate to their experience. Markowitz previously wor...

The 80th Venice Film Festival has come to a close to kick off the fall festival season and we’re recapping the awards, the highs, and the lows of this year’s edition. The Venice Film Festival often showcases thought-provoking storytelling from bold filmmakers and this year was no exception. Together we break down the Golden Lion winner, as well as cover some of the moments that left an impression...

In the ninth addition to The Conjuring franchise, The Nun prequel returns to see Sister Irene come face-to-face with a powerful force once again. We review The Nun II, a follow-up to the enigmatic gothic horror about an evil that haunts and causes supernatural harm to everybody it comes into contact with after the first film's events as the evil now begins to spread to 1956 France. Chapter Ti...

For the 25th double feature we take a look at one of the most integral components of filmmaking–sound in film. Sound has been a tool for filmmakers since the late 1920’s when silent films transitioned to talkies, and since then has evolved through creative applications and strategies as a storytelling device and an essential part of the audiovisual experience of film. We break down how filmmakers...

Emma Seligman is back for her sophomore feature film effort with Bottoms, a high school queer sex comedy starring co-writer Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edibiri, Ruby Cruz, and Marshawn Lynch. If that introduction isn’t wild enough, you’re in for quite a 92-minute ride with one of the highest-rated comedies of the year, and the single best movie of the year to feature a queer fight club, as we review the f...

To celebrate our 1-year anniversary as an outlet since our first podcast on August 29, 2022, we review the winner of the social media bracket, Portrait of a Lady on Fire directed by Celine Sciamma in 2019. Set against the backdrop of 18th-century France, Sciamma paints a mesmerizing portrait of love, desire, and artistry as a female painter is obliged to deliver a wedding portrait for a woman set...

Today we are reviewing a film that is based on the unbelievable true story of a video game player becoming a racecar driver. We’ll be discussing the latest in a string of 2023 product movies, this time an adaptation of the long-popular Playstation racing game Gran Turismo starring David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, and Archie Madekwe. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:00 Introduction 0:08:02 Gran Turismo Non-Sp...

**This podcast was recorded before the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.** In The Adults, the plan to make a trip back home as short as possible begins to unravel as Eric finds himself balancing the challenging relationship with his two sisters and his addiction to a local poker game. Direct...

For the 24th double feature, we are going on a road trip together to discuss the theme of road trip movies where the protagonist's journey by car is a defining element of the story. The two films we are looking at within this gasoline-fueled subgenre are Thelma & Louise and Little Miss Sunshine. We discuss the characteristics of what makes a road trip movie and how the journey from point...

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of its original South Korean release, Neon is re-releasing Park Chan-wook's modern revenge classic Oldboy in theaters, starting August 16. To mark the occasion, the film was digitally restored and remastered in 4K HDR and we review the Korean auteur’s breakthrough thriller two decades later discussing why this film is still important today within Park’s...

Joanna Naugle, ACE, is a Brooklyn-based editor renowned for her work on a range of films, comedy specials, and TV shows. Her notable projects include "Ramy" (Hulu), "Big Mouth" (Netflix), "2 Dope Queens" (HBO), "Some Good News" (YouTube), "Human Resources" (Netflix), and both seasons of "The Bear" (FX). Her exceptional editing on "Th...

The fall film festival cycle is gearing up once again with the major festivals beginning to announce their film lineup that will reveal many of the major awards players and flesh out the fall and winter 2023 theater schedule. We break down major lineup announcements from TIFF, NYFF, and Venice and speculate on what titles to expect in upcoming announcements. Chapter Timestamps 0:00 Introduction 11...

Based on a single chapter, the Captain's Log, from Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel "Dracula", The Last Voyage of the Demeter is set aboard the ship and details the strange events that befell the doomed crew as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage, stalked each night by a terrifying presence on board the ship. We review the film directed by André Øvredal starring Corey Hawk...

Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, with a cinematic journey spanning over three decades, have earned acclaim as directors, writers, producers, and editors. Their prolific careers have garnered a remarkable array of accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Emmy Awards, and three Peabody Awards. Recognized globally, they have been showcased at prestigious institutions such as London's Insti...

For the 23rd double feature we are entering the era of 1940's and 50's Italy for a double feature on Italian Neo-Realism, a period of filmmaking in post-WWII Italy that strived to capture the conditions of a changing society highlighting aspects of economic and social conditions with a set of filmmakers that strived to redefine how to capture these ideas on screen. The two films we discu...

Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael have been around for decades, captivating audiences with their unique personalities, incredible martial arts skills, and love for pizza, but they return in their 7th feature film with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Directed by Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears, we review the animated adventure as the turtles look to win the support of New York...

As mentioned on the last news episode, this week we would be returning to discuss the biggest news item of the summer, and that is the topic of labor union disputes in Hollywood that have dramatically altered the film and entertainment industry in recent months. WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes respectively have instituted a lockdown over Hollywood and we’re going to be breaking down the background and k...

From first time film directors Danny and Michael Philippou is the newest A24 horror movie, Talk To Me starring Sophie Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen. Joined by Seth Vargas, we review the visionary director duo’s take on the supernatural when a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleash...